Hello and welcome to this weeks edition of recycling and climate change news from around the world. ..many countries are relaxing their quarantines and already some are seeing an increase in new cases and in light of recent developments around the world I am guessing it is not over yet…here in Thailand we are not many days of declaring ourselves Covid-19 free…fingers crossed.

But let’s not dwell on what we have no control over and do our bit to stay safe and well and look at the good things happening and the things we can control in our daily lives…

The bamboo we have plenty of it here and I love eating the soft stems of bamboo it is lovely in soup or stir-fries…It is also used for structural purposes here. Bamboo as a building material has high compressive strength and low weight it has been one of the most used building material as support for concrete, especially in those locations where it is found in abundance.

Packaging for food and containers is also another use here as I mentioned last week…A comment from trishthetrout made me think and of course start doing some research…Thank you, Trish 🙂

Bamboo textile is any cloth, yarn, or clothing made from bamboo fibres. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?

Examples include clothing such as shirt tops, pants, socks for adults and children as well as bedding such as sheets and pillow covers. Bamboo yarn can also be blended with other textile fibres such as hemp or spandex. Bamboo is an alternative to plastic that is renewable and can be replenished at a fast rate…you can almost watch bamboo grow…

However…as with many claims there is a BUT…I haven’t researched this fully but many claims made about the properties of buying bamboo bedding and clothing it seems maybe false… companies have been charged with false antimicrobial claims when the fibre has been made with rayon.

Some links supporting the use of natural fibres from bamboo and other plants:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/1831754/saving-the-planet-one-stitch-at-a-time

https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=ajt.2012.44.50

I think it is very exciting but will take more research before it becomes available to a wider market for textiles and clothing at the moment it is more of a niche market.

Batteries…Often the source of discussion …

Not always easily and safely disposed of…There is an ongoing controversy about the mining of cobalt and lithium…but as always there is much research into alternatives which are as good but cheaper and safer…

As you know I love trees, forests and jungles even a little copse they all house their own beauty to me and sense of peace and calm…

What is tree cover loss…

Global Forest Watch explains:

Tree cover loss is not the same as deforestation. “Tree cover” can refer to trees in plantations as well as natural forests, and “tree cover loss” is the removal of tree canopy due to human or natural causes, including fire. The data presented here do not take tree restoration or regeneration into account and are therefore not an indication of net change. Focusing on tree cover loss within undisturbed humid tropical primary forests, however, allows us to highlight some of the world’s most critical forest areas where loss is likely to have long-term impacts.

The tropics lost 11.9 million hectares of tree cover in 2019, according to data from the University of Maryland, released today on Global Forest Watch.

https://blog.globalforestwatch.org/data-and-research/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2019?

Humankind relies heavily on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems to survive and flourish, whether that’s through the bees that pollinate our crops, marine species that keep the oceans healthy and a dependable source of food or the ever-expanding array of creatures that prove the source of life-saving medicines. As these species disappear due to habitat destruction, wildlife trade, pollution and climate change, so too do essential parts of a delicate system we depend on for our well-being.

When humanity exterminates populations and species of other creatures, it is sawing off the limb on which it is sitting, destroying working parts of our own life-support system,” says Ehrlich.“The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked.

This little child’s book is a lovely book which is all about the Bees and other animals fight to survive…written by Paul  Noel it can be found to purchase on Amazon… The bee is also one of the endangered species and we need to educate children as well as their parents on what we can do to ensure their survival as those little bees are important to our survival…Don’t forget that!

Silent Spring is a follow up to Busy Bee and the Endangered Meadow. In that story, Bea (Beatrice) and the inhabitants of the meadow fought off some developers who wanted to build houses all over it. In this second story, the bees and many of the other creatures are starting to feel ill during the spring of that year. Some bees mention that there is a strange smell in the air, different from the normal ones that arrive with the season. Even though everything looks normal in the meadow to the people walking through it, there is an eerie silence and with Doctor Bee recommending to some of the songbirds that they rest their voices it is not hard to understand why. The problem gets worse and some bees are found lost and confused and unable to fly so have to be rescued. Doctor Bee and her nurses become very busy treating the bumblebees, the solitary bees and many of the meadow’s other inhabitants that aren’t feeling well.

Good News!

The Nature Conservancy, one of the oldest nonprofit organizations dedicated to the preservation of lands, animals, and rivers, has just purchased a large tract adjacent to the majestic Zion National Park for $4.3 million to preserve the ecosystem enshrined within the famous canyon.

The picturesque 419-acre Utah property called Sheep Bridge includes a 2-mile stretch of the Virgin River, which is relied upon as a water source for Washington County residents.

The river itself eroded one of Zion’s many canyons, and it was snapped up by the Virginia-based Nature Conservancy as part of a greater effort by advocacy groups to protect the area around Zion from development.

The shipping sector has been on my radar for a long time…not only do some of these cruise ships regularly flout waste and dumping laws but because many are built to last it means that urgent action on emissions from existing ships is the key to tackling shipping’s impact on climate change.

It is no longer viable to state they are waiting for new low carbon ships to enter their fleets they need to focus attention on decarbonising and retrofitting existing ships, rather than just rely on new, more efficient ships to achieve the necessary carbon reductions required in line with Paris Agreement targets, according to a University of Manchester study published today in the new journal BMC Energy.

The research highlights the multiple ways that ships can cut their committed emissions, such as travelling at slower speeds, fitting new renewable technologies such as Flettner rotors, connecting to grid electricity while in port, and retrofitting other energy-saving measures.

That’s all for this week…we are in our rainy season now so hot steamy days and stormy nights so everything is growing super quick…including the bamboo…x

Thank you for reading be well and stay safe xxx

About Carol Taylor: Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all stay safe and healthy xx